Fictional Americas V1.6
	by St. Leo (Leons Petrazickis)
	petrazi@sprint.ca

INTRODUCTION

I have set out on making this scenarios with the sole purpose of it being extremely fun to play and well-balanced for all the non-native civs. I believe I have succeeded in this task, but you be the judge.:)

FIRST OF ALL

After you have unzipped the scenario to the appropriate directory, please run fictam16.exe - it will generate (new concept!) an events file on the fly based on your selections. I apologize for its text-based interface.:)

NOTE: The source code is included as fictam.cpp.

PREMISE

I recommend taking a leap of faith on this, but if you insist:
-Phoenicians and Romans arrived at about the same time and have been busy invading each other's isles ever since.
-Irish pacified the coastline they landed on and have been farming quietly ever since.
-Vikings and Chinese are new arrivals, full of vigour.

NOTES

- You will regularly receive generals, so do not worry too much about their death
- Dead enemy settlers/slaves = your slaves (due to a bug, you will only be able to receive them from the civ of your first victim - choose wisely)

CIV PRIMER

Vikings (EASY) - They have some of the best units and will dominate in this game if they can beat the Irish to the Great Lake region. Do not forget the ability of your Hirdmenn to attack directly from your longships - if you have played Harlan Thompson's Vikings, the same tactics still apply.

Irish (HARD) - Viking, Native, and Roman realms envelop yours, sticking you between the rock and the hard place. On the other hand, you start out with the most cities and you have the best shot at the large native cities near the coast.

Romans (MEDIUM) - If you can eliminate the Irish, do so, as that will give you with all the land east of Mississippi and south of St. Lawrence, a fertile and easy to defend region.

Phoenicians (MEDIUM) - Mix your two elephant unit types and you should be all right.

Chinese (MEDIUM) - Just because your powerhouse cities are behind the Rocky mountains don't stay on that side - the Sioux are readily conquerable and other lands lie beyond them.;)

Meso-Americans (NOVICE) - Do not play as this tribe unless you are a total newbie and adore micromanagement.

Natives - If you do not mind an unexplored map and a bazillion cities, you are welcome to play as this civ. Keep in mind that your units will be limited to a pathetic defender, a lethal suicide attacker, and a basic sea transport.

ORIGINS OF INSPIRATION

1. There is definite historical evidence of Viking presence in Newfoundland.

2. There is an Irish tale (actually several, but only one makes sense) that can be interpreted as a voyage to the New World.

3. There is some questionable "evidence" of Phoenicians reaching the Americas - personally, I only believe in their circumnavigation of Africa.

4. Romans in North America is a popular What If idea.

5. The west coast was barren, so I threw in the Chinese.

HISTORY
1.6
-Since all the units are available at the start, I've switched to forbidden prerequisites from forbidden expirations. This should clear up a few bugs.

CREDITS

Cities: Captain Nemo(Vikings), Markus Eklund(Irish), Erwan(Romans/Phoenicians), BeBro(Aztecs), Age of Empires and I(Chinese)

Terrains: Tim Smith(forests, mountains), Stefan Hartel(river deltas), and many others

Units: Erwan(the beautiful shaded ones), Jesus Balsinde(Aztec units), BeBro(some ships), Alex Mor the Magnificent(Viking Longship), Harlan Thompson(Chu Ko Nu, War Elephant), Age of Empires and I(Elephant Escort), etc.

Icons: mostly Harlan's AllIcons and BeBro's Cross & Crescent, some converted from Caesar II or otherwise modified by me

Playtesting: Blackclove, Allard HS, PolarisGL, and to a lesser extent Mao